iPad 3 reportedly getting better cameras, slightly larger body

According to a new report Thursday, Apple’s iPad 3 is in for improved optics all around, including both cameras and its screen, as well as a minor increase in thickness. The report, from a source speaking to iLounge editor-in-chief Jeremy Horwitz, also claims that the iPad 2 will remain on sale following the iPad 3’s release.

Horwitz doesn’t reveal his source, but he does provide a lot of information, both backing up some things we’ve already been hearing and adding a few new details. The source claims that the iPad 3 will get new cameras, both front and back, with a Facetime HD-capable front-facing lens and a larger camera in the rear, which is “iPhone 4/4S-like” according to Horwitz’s comments on Twitter. It sounds like the iLounge source is speaking based on what they’ve seen from physical case designs.

The iPad’s body will be thicker by about “1 mm give or take,” according to the source, and will come complete with the much-rumored high-definition display. The source also reports that the iPad 2 will remain on sale alongside the iPad 3, though Horwitz doesn’t seem to have heard anything specific about price, besides that it will be cheaper. The report claims a new iPad will be launched around the same time as the iPad 2 was in 2011, so likely by early March.

In terms of iPad rumors, iLounge has been hit or miss in the past, but it did spot an early iPad 2 case mockup at CES in 2011 that turned out to be pretty much on the money. We’ll see if this year’s CES brings any similar early previews to back up or refute these latest rumors.